“American Idol” Winner Abi Carter Was Shocked This Finalist Didn’t Win

At 21 years old, Abi Carter has always dreamed of winning American Idol. Still, even when she became a fan-favorite on the show, she found it hard to imagine it would ever happen. Fans will likely find this surprising considering how much all three judges couldn’t stop raving during her audition. In it, she delivered a beautiful rendition of What Was I Made For by Billie Eilish.

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Still, even when Abi found herself in the top three, she didn’t think she would actually win. Best of all, she was okay with that, noting that even making it that far felt like a victory in her book. That’s why, when she was announced the winner of American Idol for its 22nd season, she couldn’t keep standing!

“I expected them to call [runner-up] Will Moseley, it just made sense to me,” Abi shares. “So to hear my name called, it really was not a scenario that I had pre-thought about.”

As disappointing as this loss must be for Will, there are certainly no hard feelings. In fact, it seems that the two of them will remain friends, even now that the show has ended. After the season finale, Abi shared a sweet photo of her and Will enjoying breakfast together.

“Breakfast at the airport after the craziest night of our lives,” Abi writes. “SEE YOU SOON NEW YORK!!”

As Abi continues to process her unforgettable win, she’s looking toward her future in music — and the record deal and $125,000 that comes with it.

“I think the hardest thing going into this career is wanting to please everybody, and I feel like when I’ve written songs in the past, I’ve wanted to do something that I thought would be popular,” she explains. “I think what I want to do going forward is being more in line with myself artistically and kind of wanting to use music as therapy rather than my goal being for something to be popular.”

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